D’Wayne Wiggins, Tony! Toni! Tone! Co-Founder, Dead at 64

D’Wayne Wiggins, the singer, guitarist, and co-founder of Tony! Toni! Toné!, died Friday, March 7. He was 64.

Wiggins’ family confirmed his death in a statement, saying he died Friday morning “surrounded by friends and loved ones.” They said, for the past year, Wiggins had been “privately and courageously battling bladder cancer,” adding, “Through this fight, he remained committed and present for his family, his music, his fans and his community.”

The statement continued: “D’Wayne’s life was incomparable, and his music and service impacted millions around the world, including in his hometown of Oakland, California. He was a guitarist, producer, composer, philanthropist, mentor, and founding member of Tony! Toni! Toné! He was deeply passionate about providing artist development and mentorship to emerging young musicians, helping to shape the early careers of many.

Wiggins and his brother, Raphael Wiggins (better known as Raphael Saadiq) co-founded Tony! Toni! Toné! with their cousin Timothy Christian in Oakland, where they all grew up. Between 1988 and 1996, the group became one of the era’s defining acts, with their mix of R&B, soul, funk, and New Jack Swing. They released four albums (three of which were certified platinum), notched five Number One songs on the Billboard R&B Songs chart, and scored three Top 10 Hot 100 hits with “Feels Good,” “If I Had No Loot,” and “Anniversary.” 

Formed in 1986, Tony! Toni! Toné! released their first single, “One Night Stand,” the following year, which led to a deal with Wing Records, a subsidiary of Polygram. In 1988, the group dropped their debut album, Who?, which featured production from Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy (who also co-wrote several tracks with the group).

Who? featured several solid R&B hits, including “Little Walter,” as did Tony! Toni! Toné!’s 1990 follow-up, The Revival. For 1993 Sons of Soul, Tony! Toni! Toné! took up the bulk of production and songwriting duties and hit a creative stride during a run of sessions in Trinidad. The album would go on to be their biggest, anchored by “If I Had No Loot” and “Anniversary,” and peaking at Number Seven on the Billboard 200.

While Tony! Toni! Toné! frequently fused contemporary R&B and hip-hop sounds with older influences, they were often labeled as “retro,” a term the group came to chafe at. As Wiggins once told Billboard, “We’re not trying to be ‘retro,’ we’re just being the bridge between old R&B and hip-hop. We’re just using the music we grew up listening to, the music we always enjoyed as the basis for what we’re doing now.”

Tony! Toni! Toné! would drop their last album, House of Music, three years later, after which they disbanded. Wiggins would go on to found Grass Roots Entertainment and work with an array of up-and-coming R&B acts, including Alicia Keys, Keyshia Cole, and Destiny’s Child (Wiggins contributed songwriting and production to Destiny’s Child’s first three albums). He also dabbled in the Bay Area’s hyphy movement, collaborating with artists like Too $hort and the Coup. In 2000, Wiggins released his debut solo album, Eyes Never Lie. 

In 2003, Wiggins and Christian spearheaded a mini-Tony! Toni! Toné! reunion when Alicia Keys enlisted them for her hit single, “Diary” (Saadiq did not appear on the track). In 2023, the whole group reunited for a tour commemorating the 30th anniversary of Sons of Soul.